CHEAP FT LAUDERDALE HOTELS

A free directory of the best cheap hotels in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The Atlantic
What to expect: On arrival, guests are greeted with complimentary cocktails and refreshing chilled towels. The cool lobby of marble columns, blue hanging lights, and minimalist styling offers floor-to-ceiling windows that provide a bird’s-eye view of the ocean and beach scene. The outdoor patio overlooking the beach is a favorite day’s-end gathering place for the hotel’s guests, who are mostly leisure travelers. Amenity highlights: On the hotel’s fifth floor, an outdoor lap pool, spa tub, and restaurant provide panoramic views of the Atlantic. Massage therapy, body treatments, and beauty services are available at the Spa Atlantic. The 24-hour fitness center offers treadmills, stationary bikes, and elliptical machines. Other hotel amenities include a gift shop, and a restaurant with indoor and oceanfront dining. Wireless Internet access is available throughout the hotel (surcharge). Insider tip: One block from the hotel--and a must-see during any visit to Ft. Lauderdale--is the historic Bonnet House Museum and Gardens. Collections include work by local artists who were inspired by the plantation-style Bonnet House and its famous gardens.

Paradise Beach Resort
On the golden sands of Pompano Beach, this family-friendly, 102-room hotel is a low-key respite on the beach. Amenities include an outdoor pool, tennis courts, shuffleboard courts, and a game room. The front desk is open 24 hours, there’s a restaurant and open-air bar on site, and water toys are available for rent on the beach. Guests who arrive on the water enjoy boat-docking facilities.

Ramada Plaza Beach Resort
What to expect: The hotel is surrounded by condominium towers built in the 1950s and '60s along a peaceful stretch of oceanfront known as the Galt Ocean Mile. The hotel reflects this era, offering a marble lobby with plush seating and lots of mirrors. Families vacation here, and cruise-ship passengers arrive for a pre- or post-cruise beachside stay. Amenity highlights: A large spa accommodates up to 14 guests for social soaking with an ocean view. A good-size pool and an expansive sundeck furnished with lounge chairs is adjacent to the spa. Palm trees catch ocean breezes, and their trunks are wrapped with lights that create a romantic ambience after dark. Insider tip: Approximately 1.25 miles north of the hotel, the quaint seaside village of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea offers boutique shopping, open-air dining, and a fishing pier that juts far into the Atlantic (small fee charged to use the pier).

Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Hotel
What to expect: Opened in 2001 and including numerous contemporary comforts and conveniences, the hotel is popular with cruise-ship passengers departing from Port Everglades a half-mile away and with business travelers. The Intracoastal Waterway passes under a graceful bridge right next to the hotel. Over the bridge lie Fort Lauderdale's famous beaches and beachfront shopping, dining, and entertainment. Amenity highlights: For relaxation and sunbathing, the hotel provides a good-size heated pool and an eight-person spa located in a garden courtyard. Insider tip: A public "water bus" transports passengers around Fort Lauderdale's inland waterways from mid-morning to after midnight, stopping at 20 locations such as restaurants and shopping centers. One stop is only 0.25 miles from the hotel. Ticket options include a bargain-price all-day fare.

Sea Club Resort
This hotel is located on Fort Lauderdale’s famous beach strip, and has an intimate patio that’s sheltered from the public beach beyond by a tall stone wall. Landscaped with plants and palm trees, the patio surrounds an outdoor pool. Numerous oceanfront shops, restaurants, and water-related activities are within walking distance. The hotel also offers laundry facilities and a breezy beachside bar and grill.

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
What to expect: Owned and operated by the Seminole Indian tribe, this l2-story rock-and-roll themed hotel and casino sits on 87 acres in Hollywood, Florida. A 50-foot guitar stands in the center of a giant fountain in front of the hotel. Authentic rock memorabilia is showcased throughout the hotel and great video moments in rock music are featured on hundreds of flat-screen TVs in the lobby lounge. Amenity highlights: Two of Elton John’s famous headdresses sit center stage in the lobby. The centerpiece of the hotel is a l30,000-square-foot casino with gaming machines and live-action poker. Contour Spa services include massages, body treatments, and beauty services (surcharge). The 30,000-square-foot fitness center offers bikes, treadmills, and elliptical machines. A four-acre water park includes slides, waterfalls, a spa tub, and a children’s pool. Insider tip: The on-site store sells handmade Seminole items. Cabanas overlooking the pool are replicas, in style and construction, of traditional Seminole “chickee” huts, and are equipped with tables and chairs, TVs, fans, and refrigerators (surcharge).

Sheraton Yankee Clipper Beach Resort
What to expect: A landmark in Fort Lauderdale since 1956, the Yankee Clipper is the closest beach hotel to Port Everglades and thus attracts cruise-ship passengers seeking a pre- or post-cruise stay on the beach, as well as families and couples. Fort Lauderdale's principal yacht harbor lies west of the hotel on the Intracoastal Waterway, providing stroll-and-awe thrills for guests without yachts of their own.
Amenity highlights: Two pools provide alternatives to the beach. The 80-by-40-foot main pool lies in a courtyard flanked by palm trees. Underwater swimmers look through windows into the hotel's famed Wreck Bar and vice versa. The 50-by-25-foot beach pool is surrounded by a stone sundeck, which is fronted by a second, wood sundeck. From the wood deck, guests step directly onto a beach that runs 11 miles along the barrier island on which the hotel lies. The beach is exceptionally deep in front of the hotel and includes a volleyball section. Lounge chairs, green umbrellas, and green, tentlike cabanas provide beach comfort. Insider tip: A public water bus transports passengers around Fort Lauderdale's inland waterways from mid-morning to after midnight, stopping at 20 locations such as restaurants and shopping centers. The closest stop to the hotel is only 150 yards from the hotel. The water bus runs on a schedule, which is available at the concierge desk. Ticket options include a bargain-price all-day fare.

The Holiday Park Hotels & Suites
Located two miles from the center of Deerfield Beach (the town) and four miles from Boca Raton, this hotel is surrounded by eight acres of tropical landscaping. The Ramada offers a complimentary Continental breakfast and a courtesy hourly shuttle to the beach and local attractions. (Atlantic Ocean beaches are three miles due east.) Additional on-site amenities include a fitness room, business services, and wireless Internet access throughout the hotel (surcharge). In addition, there are coin-operated laundry facilities on site and, outside, a large heated pool surrounded by a courtyard.

Wyndham Fort Lauderdale Airport
What to expect: Popular with business travelers and cruise-ship passengers heading toward or leaving the terminals in Port Everglades, the hotel includes all the comforts and conveniences needed by both, including 24-hour room service and 24-hour complimentary shuttle service to and from the airport. Amenity highlights: Rest and relaxation are available in a peaceful courtyard surrounded by a lush tropical garden. Within the courtyard are a large free-form pool and the Paradise Pool Bar, which offers the option of bar stools under a canopy or tables with umbrellas on a terrace. Insider tip: A low-rise, laid-black stretch of Las Olas Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale—4.5 miles north of the hotel—is chockablock with sidewalk restaurants, antique stores, and shops.